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Majora’s Mask Induces Nightmares

So, yesterday Majora’s Mask was rereleased on 3DS. This game was a huge part of my childhood. I remember when it first came out, it was Christmas time and my brothers and sister and I pooled our money together in order to buy it and the expansion pack that was required to play it on the Nintendo 64. We had huge fans of Ocarina of Time, and I had loved the original, old school Legend of Zelda. So it was a big deal, buying that game together, and what was best was that we were able to get our hands on a gold cartridge version of the game. This was a huge deal to us.

I remember the day after Christmas our father took us to a Toys R Us that was a good 20 to 25 minutes away in order for us to get the expansion pack. My sister and I especially played the game a lot, just like we had with Ocarina of Time. And just like OOT, I would read to her the game text, and sometimes I would even make up my own language and read it to her in that. Mostly because I had played the game so many times that I grew bored of reading it over and over to her, so saying it in a made-up language made it fun for us.

While I loved Ocarina of Time probably the most, Majora’s Mask does have a special place in my heart, which is why I’ve playing it so much since receiving it yesterday. One of the things that has always stood out about this game is the extremely dark nature of it. As the title of this blog post states, it induces nightmares. Surprisingly, there are so many creepy things happening in this game. Whether done intentionally or not, Majora’s Mask is a fairly dark and somewhat horrific game.

First, we have the transformations. Throughout the game Link is given three masks that transform him into three different species: Deku, Goron, and Zora. Not only does he get the latter two from dead characters, which in itself isn’t too bad, the first time he puts any of the masks on, and animation plays that could easily disturb a person, even a grown adult. Link screams out in agony as he puts the masks on and takes them off, and a whirling animation plays to disorient the user. There is clearly a strong theme of death and coming to terms with it in this game, but why make the transformations so violent? Thankfully, you can skip them after the first time… and I always do.

Next, we interact with and come across many dead characters, not including the ones mentioned above. For example, the dancing guy on top of the mushroom in Termina Field or the dead soldier who can only be seen with the Lens of Truths. These are not the only ones, though, as we have Poes and the bone guys, as well as gidbo, who appear to be mummies. Not to mention the possible impending death of the entire world of Termina, which could imply everyone is either dead or potential dead. And there is a long-standing theory that Link might actually be dead himself and Termina is a sort of Purgatory, which explains why everyone is reminiscent of characters seen in Ocarina of Time. (Personally, while I don’t dislike that theory, I see Termina as more of a Wonderland or maybe a purgatory similar to the Lost Woods rather than to death.)

Moreover, the second most fear inducing aspects of the game would be Link’s duplicates. On the surface, these women seem so bad, but then we see the humanoid duplicate with its moonlike grin and dead, stoic eyes. Honestly, it seems ridiculous to be so afraid and so creeped out by this mannequin, but there’s something about the way it grins and stares as if it knows your fate and your secrets and can stare into your soul, and maybe even steal it for itself. *shutter* It doesn’t help that the Creepypasta BEN Drowned is so effectively disturbing (and, of course, my favorite). If you haven’t read that one, here’s the link; go do it now, but be warned it does induce nightmares, especially if you have played Majora’s Mask.

Finally, and probably most creepy, is the moon and all it represents. Not only is that moon outrageously scary for this type of game, with it’s disturbing grin and huge, sinister eyes, it also represents the impending doom of Termina. This particular world only has three days until destruction. Once the three days is up, the moon will crash into it and completely destroy it. Even though the moon is clearly moving at a snail’s pace, you can in fact watch it crash and obliterate everything… If you don’t turn back time fast enough. While the impending destruction is quite dark and foreboding, it’s only made nightmare inducing because of the moon’s design.

For a game that was sort of just slapped together, as I’ve read, it has a lot of depth and a lot of creep factor. There are so many other things to discover and so many creepy things within the story, that I strongly encourage others to get this game if they haven’t already. I would call it one of the creepiest non-horror games out there. Also, it helps that it makes me really nostalgic about those times with my younger siblings and family.

About the Author

Cole Knightly writes horror and supernatural thrillers. His debut short story, Portrait of a Ghost, was released in November 2012. Cole has a Masters in Fine Art with a Creative Writing emphasis. He enjoys playing horror and survival video games, which is also where he gets a lot of his inspiration from.